As part of our ongoing work in the area of training and career development for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people working in language programs, we are interested in creating a registry of people currently engaged in this work. This will cover all roles from language experts to administration, research and project managers and will include volunteers, contractors, part and full time employees.
The aim of the registry is to help us provide support for people in whatever role they fill - through targeted information services, training opportunities and the chance to meet and share with others working in a similar role. The registry could also potentially be a way to connect language centres with employees holding specialised skills and interests. We are also keen to hear about any new skills or training you would like to access if the opportunity comes about.
This will help our organisation to provide support, information and skills development appropriate to the needs of the different worker groups in this industry. Sharing of your details publicly will be optional.
Please feel free to give us a call if you have any questions or suggestions about the registry.
Contribute your details here via this online survey, or on this PDF form.
First Languages Australia have started work on an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Languages project which has been funded by the Commonwealth Department of Education, Skills and Employment. This is to be run jointly with the Training and Career Development for Language Workers project, funded by the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Communications–Indigenous Languages and Arts program.
These projects will build on the information in our 2016 Report Nintiringanyi: National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Language Teaching and Employment Strategy. The result of the new joint projects will be a comprehensive Government-backed strategy for the learning and teaching of languages, and training and career development covering all areas of language work. The content of the final report will reflect the knowledge, aims and ambitions shared by the language centres and community programs, supported by research and innovation from a pool of partner organisations.
One of the first steps is to hold a national video conference for language centres and programs, to begin talks around training and career development for language workers. As a starting point, we have compiled a list of the relevant training opportunities currently available into a summary document that can be downloaded here.
A video conference to initiate the conversation was held on Thursday, 11th of June at time 11.30 EST. The discussion agenda is below, and meeting notes are available here for reference.
Read more: Discussion notes: Training and career development for language workers